1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to media devices and, more particularly, to synchronization or management of media on media devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Synchronization operations have been conventionally performed between portable devices, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and host computers, to synchronize electronic files or other resources. For example, these files or other resources can pertain to text files, data files, calendar appointments, emails, to-do lists, electronic rolodexes, etc. However, such synchronization schemes tend to utilize filenames and modification dates to determine whether files need to be copied between the devices. These synchronization schemes can be largely automated but nevertheless have to be manually initiated.
In the case of media players, such as MP3 players, files are typically moved between a host computer and a media player through use of a drag and drop operation, like is conventionally done with respect to copying of a data file from a Windows desktop to a floppy disk. Hence, the user of the media player manually initiates the synchronization for individual media items. As a consequence, synchronization tends to be tedious and time consuming for users. Synchronization tends to be slow because data is transmitted between devices over a slow link.
Besides synchronization, management of resources on these portable devices has also been separately performed. For example, a user of a PDA can enter an appointment or a new contact using only the PDA, and then subsequently a host computer could, if desired, be updated (through synchronization) to include identical information. A user can also interact with the host computer to change appointments or contacts, and then subsequently have those changes be reflected on the PDA (through synchronization). As for interaction with the portable devices (e.g., PDAs), the portable devices normally are small form factor devices so as to be hand-held or pocket-size. Although their small size makes the portable devices convenient to carry, it makes the available screen display size small. Consequently, it is difficult for user to interact with the portable devices to manage resources thereon.
Thus, there is a need for improved techniques for improved approaches to synchronize or manage media content on host computers and/or media players.